Of Men and Beasts
by Neo the Saiyan angel
Summary: AU In an ancient land, a man blessed by the monkey gods rages from loneliness. But no more...


In the realm of Middletonia in the Tai Kwar province, many stories were told of the magical creature that roamed the land, terrorizing all who approached. It was a monkey-man, a creature that was greatly skilled in the martial arts but was too lost in its rage to use them properly. The legends said that it had once been a man who, after saving the grand monkey kingdom in a faraway land from certain doom, was gifted with the power of the monkeys. He was given the appearance of a monkey as well as the agility and cunning, but retained his human intelligence. He was also gifted with supernatural strength and long life, which made his life as a seeker of truth through the body and spirit easier to accomplish.

As much of a gift as this was, it was also a curse of sorts, for the man now had the appearance of a fearsome beast. No matter where he went or how he approached, villagers ran fearing for their lives and nobles set up prices on his head. The creature that had once been a man was hunted ceaselessly, no rest provided as the rest may have provided it with the chance to attack, most had thought.

The longer the man lived, the bitterer with life he became. Unable to see the truth anymore from the intense rage he had developed against his pursuers, he lashed out, slaying all who came near. The years turned him from the wise man he had been into the monster he was now.

What was not part of the legend was the truth behind his rage. His rage was a ruse, a mere façade he used to try to cover up his cold, lonely heart. With no one who was willing to talk or even look at him, the wisdom seeking lover of monkeys fell into a deep pit of pained loneliness…which quickly turned into the fury that he was reputed for. With no way to cure the pain, he instead caused others pain and tried to fill the pit of emptiness with treasures.

But nothing worked.

No matter the treasure, no matter the challenge, no matter the blood, his thirst was not sated. The despair that ate at his heart continued to gnaw, laughing at his attempts to drive it away with mere objects and sensations. It had gotten to the point where he felt, deep in his soul, that he would forever remain alone, cursed by the trickster gods he aided.

Until one day, he met someone that filled the emptiness.

It was a day like all of the other days in what had become a hellish life. He ran about, causing mayhem, mocking the failures that were the soldiers of the land, and destroying everything he could, getting what little enjoyment he managed to garner from the screams of his victims. But today, as he was wheeling back his ill-gotten gains to one of his hidey-holes, he came across something…no, someone, peculiar. The monkey-man saw what looked to be a person crouching by the side of the road and growled a little to alert the fool to his presence.

They were peculiar in the fact that instead of running when they saw him so the monkey-man could have fun chasing them down and slaying them, they looked at him, and then looked back at the ground beneath them.

The creature wasn't too sure of it, though; the stranger was covered head to toe in rags, those that a leper would wear to hide their shame. But there were no rags about his face, for it was well-hidden by the shadow his conical straw hat made. They could have just shifted their position a little. They _must_ have. Confused and slightly annoyed, he stopped in front of the person and growled again.

"What are you grumbling about? There's plenty of road for you to go around me," the person said in a low, gravelly voice that sounded like it had not been used in a great deal of time.

So the beast that had been a man was struck dumb. Did this man have a death wish? Did he not realize what he was talking to? That his life was forfeit just by being near him?

"Well? What are you waiting for? An invitation? Go around!"

The impertinence! How could this man talk to him like that?! But…it was odd. The monster actually wasn't feeling the lust for the life-blood as usual. In fact…it was quite nice to talk to someone that didn't run at the mere sight of him. Or curl into a quivering ball that begged for their life. This got an emotion going that hadn't been used in a long time.

He became curious.

"What if I don't wish to?" snarled the man-beast in the fashion that had become customary for him. The response given was so great in its absurdity that it left the creature flabbergasted.

"Oh! So you came to gawk at the freakshow, did you? Fine! Go right on ahead."

It took a full minute to recover from the obviously misplaced insult. Once he had, the rage came back full-force. Who was this man kidding with the 'freakshow' comment? It was an insult obviously aimed at him. There was nothing in the world that could make him worse than a monkey beast!

His rage grabbing hold of him again, the beast grabbed the ragged man by the collar and lifted him swiftly, his hat falling off in the process.

"Who do you think-" He stopped, his voice and rage once again taken from him by another shock.

"Do you see now? You still look natural! I, on the other hand-" the stranger's raccoon-like eyes met the monkey-man's stare, his blue face twisting into a sad sort of grin as his spiked hair swayed in the breeze "-look like a demon-beast."

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

_My attempt at an alternate universe sorta thing. That and there aren't nearly enough stories for this pairing. So go ahead, hee and haw at me, but I kinda like it. It's just the right amount of weird for me. Not that there's really that much in this one anyway. Just the assumption. Though the two freaky ones make a cute pair, don't they?_

_The title? I just pulled something out and stuck it on. Sorry if you thought it meant something deep._


End file.
